I’ll keep this race recap nice and sweet because that’s exactly what this race was.

Doing the 5K was a fun excuse for another medal — plus, doing two races in two days gets finishers the Steel Challenge medal. Writing those words put me in something of a state of disbelief. A year ago, a 5K was a HUGE hardship for me mentally and physically (and for my poor shins) and completely opposite of my fitness from derby. I HATED running. Now it’s just an easy, fun run for the day? That’s just crazy talk.

Prior to the race, Steff of Run Steff Run arranged for a running bloggers meet-up.

I was excited to meet up with a friend who was running her first 5K and meet other bloggers who I have been virtually following along AND I’ve got some awesome friends pictured in there also running their first half or FULL marathons.

It was also there that I found my running mate for the day: Jennifer from Running on Lentils. This wasn’t a PR race for either of us (I’ll get one of those in, hopefully, in the next couple months); we were both running the half the next day. It was the easiest 5K I’ve ever run, since we paced intentionally slow and I had a running partner to chat with for the duration. Seriously, 3 miles went by so quickly! Plus, I really loved the course — very different from other 5Ks that I’ve completed in the city. Not to mention, it was a cool and beautifully-sunny morning in Pittsburgh.

My kind of running weather. ENTER DRAMATIC IRONY FOR THE FOLLOWING DAY.

Afterwards, I walked back over to the Expo (more on that in the half marathon recap!) AND to hang out with my bird friends and former coworkers at the Aviary (have I mentioned how much I love that it’s always on my way home?).

5K Results
Official time: 36:33
Pace: 11:45
Splits: 12:33, 11:50, 10:43